Jinnie Wishmaker

by D.D. Roy

The Troubled Tweens Series, Book 1

Book Description

Eleven-year-old Jinnie has a dilemma–she can grant wishes, but she can’t control the results.

The school counselor tells Jinnie to join the Troubled Tweens, a group of kids with similar power problems. Maddy’s touch makes anyone explode in anger. Grace can make people like her–as long as they don’t let go of her arm.

But their loose use of magic attracts the attention of the Loki, a group of magic thieves and pranksters. They want to steal an open-ended wish from Jinnie, and it will take all the limited and messed-up magic she and her friends possess to make sure their powers don’t fall into the Loki’s greedy hands.

Jinnie Wishmaker is the first book of the Troubled Tweens series for 9-12 year olds.

My Thoughts

Jinnie and her brother Bryan have been living with their grandmother since their parents went missing after a protest in South America. But their grandma is not in the best of health, and they learn they must move in with their hoity toity rich aunt and uncle. In addition, Jinnie will be going to fifth grade in a fancy private school, which she is not too excited about.

Things get worse when Jinnie angers the school bully and is sent to a group for Troubled Tweens. It is there she discovers her power–she can grant wishes, but not always with the desired effect that the wisher actually wanted. Jinnie must learn how to control her powers, and decide what is worth standing up for.

I thought this was a nice little story, if a bit fast paced. Keep in mind that at 26 years old I am probably not the intended audience for this book 🙂

Jinnie is a pretty cool character. She takes everything that comes at her pretty easily, including the fact that she has powers, and that so many others in her school do as well. Maybe she was so happy to make friends that she really didn’t question why things were.

The funniest characters were Jinnie’s aunt and uncle. The uncle was pretty much only wrapped up in money and work, and the aunt was comically afraid of getting dirty. She even wore a tiara to dinner once. Dinner in their own home. Though they were hilarious, you could tell that they really did want the best for Jinnie and Bryan.

The events at the end seemed to happen way too quickly and out of the blue for me, and it seemed like the author just tried to wrap up the plot in a bow. That led me to my three star rating.

I would be interested to learn more about the other kids in the Troubled Tweens group, and it seems that is what Ms. Roy will be writing about next.

I had the chance to ask Jinnie Wishner a few questions!  Check it out.

Hi Jinnie,  thanks for agreeing to be interviewed today on my blog!
I want to know, what was the first thing that went through your head when you found out you were going to live with your aunt and uncle?

Run! My aunt and uncle are the worst people imaginable. Rich. Clueless. And always wearing itchy clothes. My brother and I tried running away, but we got caught.

Starting a new school is always a bit frightening, but you didn’t seem scared, even when Bruscilla started to bully you. Why not?

Bullies are always hiding something. You just have to figure out what it is. And how scary can anybody be when they’re wearing a school uniform? Plaid skirts = not frightening.

Did you freak out when you learned about your power, and that so many others had powers too?

The night the baby deer was born was a total freak out. I had no idea what was going on. Could animals talk to me somehow? And why was I feeling sick all the time?
It actually helped to learn there were others like me. You can deal with pretty much anything as long as you have someone to help you out.

You always seemed to stay so positive, and never lost hope for your parents.  How do you do that?

I never felt sad about them being gone, just worried. As long as I could still imagine the day that they would come home, I could still be positive that they WOULD come home.

What’s the best thing about being a Wishmaker?

Free ice cream! But really, more than granting wishes, the best thing is helping people figure out what their wish really is. Funny thing about people—they THINK they know what they really want in life, but often they actually haven’t admitted the real dream even to themselves.

Thanks Jinnie!

About the Author

D.D. Roy wrote her first story “Blackie and the Garbage Dump Dogs” when she was in elementary school. As a teen, she tried to destroy her little hand-made books, but if you get a chance to meet D.D.’s mom, she will whip out the one surviving copy, still to D.D.’s total embarrassment.
Her first middle grade novel, JINNIE WISHMAKER, became a Hot New Release on the Nook, and was re-released as a hardcover School Library Edition through Casey Shay Press in spring 2012. Her story book app for the iPad, DUST BUNNIES: SECRET AGENTS, just came out in May through Polycot Labs.

D.D.’s Blog
D.D.’s Twitter

PURCHASE JINNIE WISHMAKER

The author is offering the following prizes to randomly drawn commenters during the tour (this is an international contest):

As a tie in to Jinnie Wishmaker, I have two Magical Mood Rings to give away. Mood rings are a central item in the book as it is how the Troubled Tweens determine if a new member has a magical power or not. Very fun!

For the grand prize, Casey Shay Press is offering their bestselling balloon animal kit. It includes the paperback book Kids Show Kids How to Make Balloon Animals (for the same age group as Jinnie Wishmaker) as well as a professional pump and balloons.

TO ENTER THIS AMAZING GIVEAWAY, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS COMMENT IN THIS POST.  PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS, SO THAT WE CAN CONTACT YOU BACK IF YOU WIN!